By SHARON EBERSON
Award-winning director, author and educator Mel Shapiro, who headed the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and began his professional directing career at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, has died at age 89.
Playbill.com first reported Mr. Shapiro’s passing, on December 23, 2024.
CMU alumnus Kent Gash, who directed the world premiere musical Billy Strayhorn: Something to Live For for Pittsburgh Public Theater, wrote on Mr. Shapiro’s Facebook page, “Bereft. It is impossible to say how much Mel Shapiro meant to me professionally and personally. A great friend and mentor who always made me laugh hysterically. Without his one of a kind wisdom and support, I wouldn’t have a career. Thank you doesn’t begin to say it.”
Mr. Shapiro co-created and directed the 1972 Tony Award-winning musical adaptation of Two Gentlemen of Verona, with John Guare and composer Galt MacDermot. In a mercurial career, he also was one of the founding members of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and was a professor emeritus at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, where he served as a distinguished professor of theater.
On Broadway, Mr. Shapiro directed Stop the World – I Want to Get Off, starring Sammy Davis Jr. Off-Broadway, he directed Guare’s The House of Blue Leaves and the Obie Award-winning The Increased Difficulty of Concentration by Václav Havel, as well as five productions for the New York Shakespeare Festival. He also directed in London and at major regional theaters, including the Guthrie in Minneapolis, Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada.
As an author, Mr. Shapiro produced to widely acclaimed books, An Actor Performs and A Director’s Companion.
Described by Playbill.com as “an open-hearted and empathetically curious artist,” the Brooklyn, N.Y. native served on the boards of Pittsburgh Public Theater, as well as the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, and the Fund for New American Plays at the Kennedy Center.
Also at Pittsburgh Public Theater, in 1990, Mr. Shapiro directed the musical Eleanor, choreographed by Rob Marshall, and a year later, he helmed the premiere of The Lay of the Land.
According to his biography on the Carnegie Mellon website, Mr. Shapiro “would ride the subway into Manhattan and pay $2.85 to watch Saturday matinees on Broadway. Those rides would lead to a wonderful career.”
After high school, he joined the Army and was stationed in Japan.
“I had a roommate in the Army who knew I was very interested in the theater,” Shapiro said. “He had gone to Carnegie’s business school. He suggested I go to Carnegie on the GI bill when I was discharged.”
He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from CMU in 1961. Mr. Shapiro was married to Jeanne Paynter in 1963. He returned to Carnegie Mellon as a Tony Award-winner in 1980, when he became head of the School of Drama.
Among the social media tributes to Mr. Shapiro, Tomé Cousin wrote, “A true Master of craft!”
Wrote Pittsburgh actor Darren Eliker “Very sad day. Rest in peace, Mel. You reminded me of who I am and what I’m called to be. Thank you.”
Don Marinelli, co-founder of Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, wrote that his 31-year career at CMU began in 1981, when Shapiro hired him as Assistant to the Head of CMU Drama.
“Being Mel’s ‘right hand’ was a glorious combination of administrative insanity and true creative brilliance,” Marinelli wrote. “He amassed an astounding cast of characters to work with the most skilled, creative, and aspiring young talent found anywhere in the world. Those years were among the most memorable and educational of my life. Everything I’ve done since was built on that foundation. So, thank you Mel. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
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What a sad day. I just heard of Mel’s passing. He was an amazing professor and director while I attended UCLA’s MFA Acting Program. Mel’s humor matched his one of a kind genius and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to sit under his tutelage. Rest in peace, Mel. You left an indelible mark on my life and I will never forget you! Thank you Mr. Mel Shapiro!
So sad to hear of Mel’s passing. He was an amazing professor and director while I attended UCLA’s MFA Acting Program. Mel’s humor matched his one of a kind genius and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to sit under his tutelage. Rest in peace, Mel. You left an indelible mark on my life and I will never forget you! Thank you Mr. Mel Shapiro!